An 84-year-old DeKalb woman was found dead in the snow at about 8 a.m. Monday just outside her retirement home.

Marian Saunderson, a resident of Oak Crest Retirement Home, 2994 Greenwood Acres, was dressed only in her sleepwear when construction workers found her near a loading dock 30 hours after she had left the home, police said.

Saunderson may have been locked out after leaving the home early Sunday morning without her key, DeKalb Police Lt. Jim Kayes said.

Oak Crest interior surveillance footage showed Saunderson leaving the building at about 3 a.m. Sunday, police said. She is thought to have walked along the side of the building before falling in the snow near the loading dock.

Initial tests show no trauma or wounds, DeKalb County Coroner Dennis Miller said. Comprehensive test results have not yet come in, but Miller said Saunderson’s death likely is related to the below-freezing weather.

The conditions through Sunday and into Monday were dangerous for someone dressed as lightly as Saunderson, Miller said. Twenty-four hours in those conditions would be enough to kill someone, he said.

Temperatures dropped to a low of 9 degrees Monday night.

Like many who stay at Oak Crest, Saunderson was classified as an independent resident, meaning she could come and go from the premises as she pleased. She is, however, believed to have left without her key, which would have made re-entry in the middle of the night difficult, Kayes said.

The retirement home had no legal responsibility to Saunderson, Kayes said, comparing the relationship to a landlord and an apartment tenant.

Calls to the Oak Crest Retirement Home had not been returned by press time.